TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters that Iran is now a nuclear power and advised Western powers not to make threats against his nation.

“Today, Iran is a nuclear Iran,” Iran’s hard-line president said at a Tehran news conference Tuesday. “That means, it fully possesses the whole nuclear fuel cycle.”

However, Ahmadinejad said Iran’s nuclear program was on a “peaceful path and seeks to attain its rights within rules and regulations,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

“Although the IAEA reports showed non-diversion of Iran’s nuclear activities, these opponents threatened us of military invasion,” Ahmadinejad said. “According to regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, every country has the right to gain access to peaceful nuclear energy.”

The Vienna, Austria-based IAEA Monday said Iran was cooperating with the U.N. agency’s investigation of its uranium enrichment program. Iran has said its nuclear program is for energy generation and not a cover for weapons development.